I think this can be true for sure. And we did go the extra mile to try to make special little traditions even within the chaos. Like negotiating with hotel staff so that "santa" still visited. And playing special music in the car and having our own little family Christmas after midnight services in our hotel room. If these types of things were weaved into warm (even if chaotic) visits with extended family and times when adults paid any attention to the one kid (dd) in the mix. And no one got drunk and started drama. And we did not go into the ditch (again). And everyone got adequate sleep and food. And no one counted up the minutes we were at one house versus another then picked a fight about it being "unfair." And my dd did not start crying midway through gift opening every year between the ages of 3 and 7 because she was too tired but we HAD to get to the next house by exactly noon or suffer an entire day of the silent treatment..... Lots of disfunction. Some normal in any varied family dynamic and some just wrong. Probably pretty typical and maybe even "fun and exciting" for people blessed with certain personality types. Dd is 16 now. Our last trip was when she was 12. She reports that there are some good memories but she felt general dread and exhaustion both during and leading up to those trips. The kids has slept until noon every Christmas morning since we started staying home. What kid does that?!?! I am thinking maybe a kid that is making up for something.

One of the reasons we stopped traveling for Christmas, specifically, was that we realized our own kid would never have memories of our own traditions or being in our home. Instead she would remember many hours in the car, stressed out parents trying to navigate tight timelines on icy highways, waking up in hotel rooms, being forced to rush through gift opening to make it to the next place, cranky relatives that were mad about other missing relatives, etc.... With those memories, she would never feel compelled to come home for Christmas herself!

As to the larger question in the OP, I have pondered it myself. I am in my mid-40s as are most of my friends. We all have kids at home still. We almost ALL have some sort of impossible situation with at least one parent. And difficult situations with most of our parents. Statistically, this has to mean something happens as you age. The theory we have come to is that as you age, you lose your ability and/or desire to keep your flaws from leaking out. With that in mind, I hope whatever my leaky flaws end up being, they are not ones that threaten a healthy relationship with my family.

Yep. After years of schlepping all over the state in terrible weather to try (and fail) to meet everyone's inflexible expectations, we just quit. We still love our families but all my flexibility cards got used up years ago. We visit at other times, which is still never enough or meets the ever moving target of expectations but at least we no longer dread the holidays for the precious few left with a child at home.

We no longer travel for the holidays and we are likely never going to in the future. And yes, it is because we *want* to stay home for holidays. That does not mean we don't love our families.

I guess I had better get going on them! There is still plenty of time for dd to change her mind about where she will apply so better safe than sorry.

So.....I have not written up any course descriptions. It has been on my to do list since dd was in 9th grade. I fully intended to stay on top of this. Now that dd is starting to figure out her applications strategy and she is narrowing her list of schools to apply to, it appears none on her list require this. So I may be off the hook. I am curious though, how common is it to need them? And is there any reason to create them if they are not needed for college applications?

Yeah, dd's first pick right now does not require Econ. It DOES "highly recommend" speech which she didn't take. Doh! But "highly recommend" is not the same as "required" so I am not going to fret on that one....right now, anyway..... I too was surprised at how minimal the requirements are for the schools we looked up.

Thanks! That helps ease my mind. That was my understanding (for MI) too but I felt like I needed a second opinion.

Thanks everyone. It sounds like spring of 11th grade is a good first attempt. I'll for sure ambush dd with a practice test or two so she can practice timing. Although, honestly, this is not super high stakes for dd. The school she is most interested in is not a reach for her at all so unless she completely bombs the test, her score should be fine. But having time to retake just in case would make us both feel better and leaves her options open in case she does decide to pursue a more selective school.

That is the root of my question. What does "requirement" mean when it comes to a homeschool diploma? We have some options when it comes to covering the "requirement" but before I start to wade through them, I want to make sure I actually *have* to. We do not submit the diploma to the state in any way. The only function it will have is for college admissions requirements and employment purposes. I won't go into the boring details of how our plan got so jacked in these last two years of a 12 year homeschool journey but it is and I am trying to focus on what we have decided are the most important subjects. I just want to know if there is some sort of state graduation requirements police or other way this could trip us up down the road. Given the number of unschoolers I know of in this state, I have to believe this won't be an issue.

It's not Health....which is not a state requirement but dd did take. It's Econ. I am all about the subject and do think dd should take it. But we have covered much of it within other subjects and due to some special circumstances, we already have to cram in one credit each of World History and US History and a half credit of Government in a span of three semesters. Adding Econ would topple the delicate and already-overstuffed plan I have in place.

More pre-12th grade panic posting. I have been reviewing the Motherlode threads to be sure nothing is slipping through the cracks. One thing I am unclear on is when dd should take the ACT/SAT. It seems some advanced/gifted people take it pretty early so when looking through those threads, I cannot figure out when regular students would take it for the first time. ACT makes the most sense for dd for several reasons (mostly revolving around test location and accessibility) so that is likely the test she will take. I do not anticipate that she will take it more than once but I would like to arrange the timing so that she could repeat it just in case she wants to. Given that, when would it be best for her to take it the first time? And, if there is a compelling reason to take the SAT instead (or in a addition), someone please share. The schools she is considering all take either.

As we are starting to look ahead to dd's last year of high school, I looked up our state's (Michigan) graduation requirements. Within our current plan, we do not meet those requirements. There is one subject that dd has not taken that I do not plan to have her take. We covered the subject informally within the context of other courses but there is no way I could justify a listing and grade for it as a stand-alone course. I have read in several places that homeschoolers are not bound to the state graduation requirements. Does this mean I can still issue a diploma even if her transcript is missing a state-required .5 credit on this specific subject? Without even worrying about the specifics of my case, does a homeschooled student have to adhere to state graduations requirements to earn a homeschool graduation diploma?

I live in a vey cold climate with the typical housing stock being old, poorly insulated, and insufficiently heated....including my own house. I have to take extra measures to stay warm indoor for 7 months of the year. Aside from the other good suggestions, I have additional ones. We usually wear winter hats to bed, as others suggested, but we also tend to wear neck buffs and wrist warmers too. When getting into bed, I wait until the last minute to take off my shirt then wrap my feet in that still-warm shirt under the covers. Once my feet get cold, it takes hours to get my whole body warm so this is a preventative measure. I drink hot tea almost all day long.

This has promise! Anyone use this?

It is not always a one semester class. If it were, I'd have more options:)

I didn't think of asking. It can't hurt, right?

It appears students must be unrolled in their full program to take a course. Or rather, I cannot see an option to just register for a single course. Am I missing something? Thanks!

This is very interesting. I can only see so much without an account but maybe you could answer my questions. It seems like a low number of hours.....24 the page says. Is that just direct lecture time or all "effort" which would put it well below what would be required for a 1/2 credit. Is there any assessment? Assignments, tests, etc....? Outside reading or text of any kind? Thanks!

I have asked this before but am still struggling to find something that will work for us. I am hoping there is something new out there or someone has an idea I have not yet explored. DD (11th grade) needs to fulfill a 1/2 credit of US Government this spring that meets the following: 1. Secular (this is non-negotiable). 2. Online or open-and-go curriculum. As in not a collection of resources I need to cobble together to make a complete program. A good text with a study guide would also work. 3. One semester, offered in spring or asynchronous (if online). Thinkwell is off the table because it is a full year course and dd does not have a lot of bandwidth to try to double time it. FundaFunda is out because it is offered in fall only.

Thanks all. We have five litter boxes for two cats and they are dispersed all over the house and are usually cleaned twice a day but for sure once daily. We have three different styles but kitten has been using them all about equally. It may be the soft spot theory. Or UTI. Cranky cat is much more scared of kitten than kitten of cranky cat. But cranky sleeps on our bed at night so it might be a territory thing too. Sigh. It has not happened again. Yet.

We recently adopted a (now) 4 month old kitten. We have had her for two weeks. We took her after a failed placement in a friend's home and had not planned to get a kitten at this time. We also have a 16 yo cat who is cranky and would really prefer to be an only cat. The introduction has gone as well as we could have hoped for with a kitten annoying a cranky cat. Kitten keeps trying to play with cranky and cranky hisses, mildly growls, and occasionally swats. Kitten found our four litter boxes and took to using them right from the start. Until. Two nights ago, I was getting ready for bed. Kitten had been underfoot so I took her with me to the bedroom and plopped her on our bed. A minute later, I noticed that she was PEEING the bed. I assumed that it was an isolated incident and chalked it up to the possibility that had picked her up with a full bladder and she just couldn't get to the box fast enough. Everything got washed and I made up the bed with different bedding. Last night, I was IN bed but not asleep yet when kitten came into the room, jumped up on the bed, and PEED it again! Concerned this might happen, we had taken kitten to the boxes just a short time before this happened and she used one. The boxes are cleaned daily and had been cleaned just hours beforehand. She was just at the vet for a full check up. She is spayed and has all of her shots. What is going on here?!?! Any ideas and/or suggestions on how to remedy the situation? The room does not have a latching door and cranky cat enjoys the sunbeams in this room so even if I could close it off I'd like to keep anything cranky enjoys in her life now that kitten has upended it. Help!

I taught at a university for 13 years and often had assignments that were due before the first day of class. It was/is not at all uncommon in my department and students did not complain......to me, anyway. Some of my classes were flipped (they watch my lecture via recorded video before class so we can use class time for hands-on/group/interactive work) and I needed the students to watch the lecture before arriving at the first class. And usually lecture videos were followed by a short assignment to encourage them to actually watch the lecture. Even in non-flipped classes, I often had reading assignments before the first class with some graded deliverable attached. Had someone come to me that clearly had no idea this was a thing, I am sure I would allow an extension, just as I did for late adds.

I am considering doing something similar because we *are* tight on total credits. A big reason we homeschool through high school is because dd spends many (average of 4) daily hours playing. Therefore, we limit academics to a rigorous selection of the basics. At first I had planned to award credit for one year and count all others as ECs but when I started thinking about it, dd's classical studies, performances, and lessons alone add up to well over a credit worth of seat time. Then she has double that much annually in other instruments, three non-classical bands, lessons, styles, rehearsals, and gigs. So I may expand the credit if it makes sense. I see it kind of like math. You get credit for taking your math classes. You get EC for being on the competition math team. Both in the same year.